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Kurdish YPG fully defeats IS in Syria's Ayn al-Arab city: activists

Xinhua, January 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Kurdish militants have become in full control of the predominantly Kurdish city of Ayn al-Arab, or Kobane, in northern Syria, a monitoring group reported Monday.

The People's Protection Units (YPG) fully recaptured Ayn al-Arab after 112 days of intense clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militant group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the YPG are combing the streets and houses at the eastern outskirts of the city to dismantle explosive devices.

The IS unleashed its wide-scale offensive for controlling Ayn al-Arab in September of last year. The terror-designated group hoisted its flag for the first time at the outskirts of the city in October 2014.

Intense clashes and shelling between both sides continued throughout the months, before the YPG and affiliated groups on Monday fully regained control of all of the areas that have fallen to the IS in the city.

The months-long battles resulted in the killing of 979 IS fighters and 324 combatants of the YPG, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground. Endit